It seems we’re entering the Golden Age of side projects. Last year Jack Ü trumped Skrillex and Diplo’s solo efforts, and the mysterious Marshmello burst onto the scene without even revealing his identity. Before that came Zhu in 2014, and UZ even earlier than that. The same can be said for Malaa, who emerged in November from Tchami’s new label Confession. The immediate guess points straight to the label owner, who could easily use his DJ capital to push the project straight through to the top, but what if it wasn’t? What if Tchami (who already publicly produces future house) was just helping out a fellow compatriot, just as he has since…forever?
It’s no secret that Tchami and DJ Snake have worked side-by-side on some of their biggest singles. ASCAP has confirmed that the two share writing credits on “Get Low,” “After Life” and more. In fact, the whole Guess Agency roster of Snake, Tchami, and Mercer came up together. Really, who’s to say that Malaa (which is Somali for “Angels”) isn’t just a solo figurehead that represents all three acts producing together, without having to be onstage all at once? There has been evidence from Reddit users who have stated the case for all of these combinations (one even suggests that manager Steve Goncalves could be Malaa too), but it’s this tiiiny piece of evidence that stands out: 
Taken from a Facebook event description (Malaa’s name has been removed since), the image above allegedly states the true identity of this new act (even though Maala [sic] is incorrectly spelled). For now, the identity of Tchami’s first signee remains unknown, but we have a feeling the big reveal is imminent. Secrets don’t stay secrets for long these days.
Source: Dancing Astronaut/Reddit
UPDATE: The picture with reference to DJ Snake and Malaa has been removed, following information that it was edited by a third party not in affiliation with 1015 Fulsom. We regret the error.
